


JUMPER

by tinyko



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars: The Clone Wars (2008) - All Media Types
Genre: Bodyguard, Interspecies Relationship(s), Interspecies Romance, M/M, Organized Crime, Rating May Change, Self-Insert, Slow Build, Slow Burn, Trans Male Character, Xenophilia, i promise i'll update hiraeth still, im so gay im so sorry
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-07-20
Updated: 2018-07-20
Packaged: 2019-06-13 06:15:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 2,850
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15358059
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinyko/pseuds/tinyko
Summary: Cad Bane, bounty hunter, didn't expect to get hired to be a bodyguard. It's not exactly his forte. Yet here he is, hired to protect a young man, a son of a crime lord.





	1. Prologue

**Author's Note:**

> IM GAY i'm vvvv hype about the recent announcement too, so here i am, hyperfixated and gay 
> 
> this is just a prologue right now, just setting the scene, but im going to alternate between pov every so often! i'll shove a chapter in cad's pov here and there

Sitting in the passenger’s seat of an expensive speeder, heading towards the richer section of Coruscant isn’t exactly how Cad Bane had pictured himself. But a job is a job and one paying this good that specifically reached out to him? How could he refuse?

A protocol droid, one of the newest models, drives the speeder and isn’t one for conversation, not that Cad complains. He busies himself with his datapad, reviewing the job once more.

The leader of well known and established crime ring - The Ivory Eyes Syndicate - had requested personal help. A protection job. Specific details would be discussed upon arrival to the designated meet-up location. 

Cad sighs and shoves the datapad away. This single job has enough credits on the line where he would likely never have to take another bounty again in his life. That idea still unsettles him slightly. He’s been a bounty hunter his entire life, what is he supposed to do? Retire?

The speeder pulls up to a high end restaurant and the protocol droid nods to Cad as the vehicle stops near the entrance. Cad waves dismissively and climbs out, walking into the restaurant and making his way directly to the table indicated in the message.

It’s not a long wait. Shortly after seating himself, a tall, human man takes the chair across from him and sits down. He’s in his late fifties, dressed in a finely tailored, three piece suit with his salt and pepper hair slicked back neatly. A long scar stretches down his face, directly through his left eye. His left eye is fake, a milky, carved fake rests in its place. Two bodyguards - one a Trandoshan, the other a Houk - stood on either side of the man.

The human reaches his hand across for a handshake, “Devii Zactuc. It is a pleasure to meet you Cad Bane.”

Cad shakes Devii’s hand and nods, “And you, too. So what’s this job?”

Devii laughs, a deep rumble from his chest, “Straight to the point, huh? I thought you would at least wait until food gets here! But, yes, the job.”

The crime lord takes his napkin from the table and folds it over his lap, “As you know, I lead one of the most successful crime rings on Coruscant, perhaps even in this sector. Because of that, I have a large target on the back of my head, one that even extends to my family.”

A Twi’lek waitress arrives at the table and asks for Cad’s order, who raises his hand and shakes his head. Devii smiles at her and asks for ‘the usual’. She bows and leaves the table.

Devii turns back to Cad, “The job is to protect my son.”

“That seems small for the amount of money you offered,” Cad narrows his eyes.

“Yes, but my son is important to me. He is the only family I have left and his life has been threatened recently by a rival organisation. I want the best protection money can buy for him,” Devii reaches into his suit jacket’s pocket, pulling a photo from it.

The photo is of a young man, likely in his early twenties, with dyed hair, half black and half blond, brown eyes with round, thin framed glasses and freckles scattering his cheeks. He had his arms wrapped around the neck of a tan massiff and has a large smile painted across his lips.

“This is my son, Leonardo. I am hiring you to be his bodyguard.”

Cad leans back away from the table, frowning, “You know I’m not a bodyguard. I’m a bounty hunter, I don’t do protection or long term.”

Devii takes a deep breath and returns the photo to his pocket, “Yes, I am well aware Mr. Bane. However, I know your reputation. You are one of, if not the best bounty hunters since Jango Fett. You have gone up against countless Jedi and survived. I want only the best for my son and you, Mr. Bane, are the best.”

When Cad doesn’t reply, Devii sighs and droops his shoulders slightly, “The offered credits was a minimum. I can and will offer more.”

This catches Cad’s attention, who leans forward again, “I’m listening.”


	2. A Poor Boy, in Mind and Past

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Leo meets Cad.   
> Leo doesn't know how bodyguards work.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> heyo u wanted to get this out as quickly as i could to build up more interest
> 
> the self insert has Major Anxiety and generally isn't great with new people, and has a tendency to apologise a lot. these all play into his(my) story

A simple letter. A simple letter is all it took for Leo’s entire life to change.

It came one morning, tucked into the side of his balcony door. The young man had just slid it open to water his plants covering the small platform when the letter floated to his feet. It was odd, not many people used paper in Coruscant, most communication was through comlink or holographs. 

He leant down to grab it before his massiff, Delta who follows him to his balcony every morning to attempt to trip him, started to play with it. Leo didn’t pay it any mind as he continued to water his plants. As he heads back inside, he unfolds the paper, scanning over it and immediately feeling a sense of dread wash over him.

“Hey, Lieat?”

A deep blue protocol droid, LI8-3, turned the corner, “Yes, Leonardo?”

Fear dripped into his voice, his hands starting to shake as the paper falls from his grasp, “Call Devii. It’s an emergency.”

_‘have your father return what is mine in two weeks or you die’_

\--------------------------------------------------------------------------

That was three days ago, and Leo has not been able to get rid of that chill itching at the back of his neck. His anxiety skyrocketed after receiving the threatening letter and neither LI8-3 or Delta have had much success in calming their friend down.

When his comlink pings in the late evening of the third day, he nearly falls from his couch. Delta jumps up and growls, disrupted from his nap. Leo fumbles to answer his comlink.

“Hello?” Leo stutters out, rubbing at his eyes.

“Hello Leo!” Devii’s boisterous voice rings out, calming the young man down a little, “How are you doing, my boy?”

Leo laughs a little bitterly, “Oh, y’know. I still can’t sleep, but a little better.” It’s a blatant lie.

Devii clears his throat, “Well, I think I have found a solution! I have been getting this together since you told me about your… situation. We are on our way to your apartment as we speak! See you soon!”

“What? Wait, ‘We’? Hello?”

Leo groans into his hands, flopping against the couch. He stands up, nearly falls over from standing so quickly, then looks around his small apartment. It’s not too much of a mess, not completely spotless, but clean enough that it should be acceptable for anyone Devii would bring around.

“Hey, Lieat? Did Devii mention anyone to you?”

The droid shakes his head and moves his attention away from the datapad in his hands, “No, Mr. Zactuc did not mention anyone else when I talked with him yesterday. I wonder who it could be?”

The small man groans and rubs at his eyes. The least he could do is cover up the deep shadows under his eyes that had formed over the past couple of days from the stress and sleeplessness. He stumbles to his bathroom to dab some concealer under his eyes and smooths his clothes down. Hopefully it won’t be anyone that would require him to get dressed up.

Delta growls from in the living space just before the bell rings. Leo takes a deep breath and heads out to open the door with a forced smile slapped on his face.

Devii stands on the other side, his head tilted to the side as he ends a conversation with his guest. He turns and smiles down at Leo, wrapping his arms around the young man and lifting him up a little and swaying side to side. The action makes Leo laugh a little, his muscles relaxing slightly as he returns the hug.

When Devii sets him on the ground again, Leo stands to the side to let him and his guest in. When the third enters the room, Leo bites his lip.

The other is a tall Duros with a wide brimmed hat and a long trench coat that flows out behind him. Leo smiles and ducks his head down at the stranger.

Devii turns on his heel to face his son, “It is great to see you alright, my boy.”

Leo smiles a little, “It’s good to see you too, it’s been a while.”

“Yes, yes. Now, the reason for this trip,” Devii ruffles Leos hair as he steps pass to stand next to the Duros, “I have endeavoured to find you a bodyguard to protect you from whatever threats you may receive from here on out. This is Cad Bane, one of the best out there.”

Leo looks up at the tall man, and holds his hand out, stuttering out a greeting, “It’s nice to meet you.”

Cad tilts his head down and returns the younger man his handshake but doesn’t reply. Devii laughs and clasps them both on the shoulder.

“Well, I have things to do, people to see, places to be, all that. Please get along! I’ll check in on you later tonight!” 

And with that Devii leaves the two alone.

Leo shifts from one foot to the other and he tries to think of something to say to break this awful, awkward silence when Delta bursts into the entryway and starts to growl and hiss at Cad. Frantically, and thankful for the distraction, Leo moves to calm the beast down, cooing at him and patting his head.

He laughs a little and looks over to Cad, “Sorry, this is Delta. He’s all bark and no bite. He just doesn’t like strangers much.”

The massiff growls again and Leo sighs, standing and moving to Cad, putting his hand gently on the other man’s shoulder. Delta immediately stops growling and moves over to sniff at the newcomer. 

Leo moves away, brushing some hair from his face, “Sorry, usually that’ll get him to realise new people aren’t threats.”

Cad reaches a hand out and crouches, letting the reptilian sniff at him, who, in return, slobbers over the offered hand. Leo covers his mouth with his hand to stifle a laugh. 

“Leonardo? Has Mr. Zactuc already arrived?” LI8-3 asks from the other room, likely still reading.

“Yeah, he already left too, you know how he is,” Leo replies, then returns his attention to the other, “That’s LI8-3, or Lieat, he’s a roommate of sorts.”

Again, Cad offers no reply, which sends an awful jolt of anxiety through Leo’s body. The urge to apologise and make amends weighs heavy in his chest and he begins to ramble before he can even think.

“I’m sorry, this probably really isn’t something that you wanted to do. I mean, I kinda know what you used to do, you don’t take the entire Senate hostage or break out of one of the most secure prisons and not make the news. So I bet that playing bodyguard to some kid really isn’t your ideal job. I’m really sorry, it’s just Devii’s overprotective of me and he’s worried and I’m scared and-”

“Now, that’s enough of that,” Cad holds a hand up and stands up, Delta whining at the loss of pats, “Don’t you worry about all of that.”

Leo bites his lips. Stars above, this man has a wonderful voice and Leo would be damned if he didn’t think it attractive.

Cad moves, shifting his weight, “Your father paid me good credits and I intend to follow through this job just like any other.”

The younger man nods and then rubs his hands together and then starts to head into the main section of the apartment, “Sorry about that. Uh, I have a guest room, you can crash there, make it your own if you want. I don’t get guests much at all so…”

There’s a deep sigh behind him, “You don’t know how any of this works, do you?”

Leo pauses, then turns, a sheepish smile on his lips and his hand rubbing the back of his neck, “No, I don’t really.”

Cad sighs and rubs his forehead, “I’m your bodyguard because you got a death threat from some powerful people. I have to be around you as much as possible to protect you. That includes at night.”

It takes a second for Leo to process this new information. The next moment, his eyes widen and his cheeks light up, a bright red coating over them and almost causing his freckles to disappear. He drops his gaze down to his hands as he fiddles with the sleeves of his shirt.

“I didn’t realise that, sorry,” Leo stutters out.

“Don’t worry about it, kid.”

Leo bobs his head and then tries to calm his flustered mind, “Do you, uh, want a tour of the place? It’s nothing fancy and it’s fairly small… but it’s home.”

Cad shakes his head, “No, I can do that on my own.”

The smaller man shuffles awkwardly, but nods, “Then I’m just gonna go work on… work… I’ll be in the living room if you need anything.”

He makes his way to his couch and Cad rubs his eyes with one hand. The taller man walks forward swiftly and moves to stand in front of Leo, crossing his arms.

“Do you seriously not know how a bodyguard works? You’re the son of a crime lord, you had plenty growing up.”

Leo bristles at that, then his shoulders slunch, making him look even smaller than he already is, “No, I actually didn’t. Devii’s not my dad. My mum married him when I was living on my own. I was dirt poor for a good portion of my life, so I’m sorry, but I have no idea how to deal with any of this. The threats I got growing up were all empty lies through the holonet but this… this is real, I can feel it and it shoved me into the reality of all of this.”

Rubbing his arm, Leo looks to the ground, “I’m sorry, but I really don’t know how this works.”

Cad doesn’t reply and when Leo looks up, the other man seems slightly taken aback though not entirely surprised. It only lasts a moment, before Cad huffs and tilts his head back.

“Look, kid,” Cad closes his eyes, “Devii hired me for three weeks to watch you and protect you. You know his two bodyguards, it’s the same as that.”

Leo nods, fidgeting with his hands, “Okay, I got it. Sorry…”

The bounty hunter opens his eyes and tilts his head back down.

“How about we just… go to sleep and worry about the details in the morning… Do you need anything?” Leo goes to offer clothes for the other sleep in, but Cad moves and pulls a bag from behind him. Leo blinks and can’t help but to wonder where the other mam hid it and how he didn’t notice it until now.

“Alright, so… this way.”

Leo walks to the hallway branching off from the living area, going to the door at the end. His room is small with a double bed pushed into one half with a desk squeeze between the foot of the bed and the wall, his dresser on the other side and a full length mirror next to it. Plants cover every flat surface and hang from the ceiling, one hanging vine tangled up with small string lights.

“So yeah, it’s not much, but here, let me get some blankets, you can take the bed, I’ll-”

“What?” Cad turns to the smaller man.

He tilts his head, “What? There’s no other place to sleep other than the floor?”

“So we both take the bed.”

Leo feels his cheeks burn and he drops his gaze, a stutter in his voice, “I mean, if you’re okay? I don’t want to make you sleep on the floor…”

Cad takes a deep breath, seeming to grow tired, “It’s fine. I’m a light sleeper.”

Leo nods and pulls a drawer open, grabbing some sleep clothes, “I’ll go change then, the bathroom’s the door on the right.”

He heads over to the bathroom, Cad following a few paces back. Thankfully, he lets the young man in the bathroom on his own. Leo leans against the sink, feeling the urge to just cry or maybe to scream. He can’t decide. So he settles on changing and washing his face, grimacing when the concealer is washed off. He shakes his head, takes a sleeping pill and then opens the door. Cad switches and he’s done changing remarkably fast.

Leo finds it odd, since his other clothes had so much, but he doesn’t bother asking, feeling like he already burdened the poor man enough. 

They head back to the bedroom and Cad lets the young man crawl in first. Leo curls up facing the wall, burrowing into an old handmade quilt. He feels the bed dip as Cad lays down. Leo yawns as the exhaustion washes over him, having barely slept the past couple of night catching up in him rather quickly and finds himself asleep before he even knows it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> thanks for reading! sorry for the quality drop, my beta doesn't care much for star wars so i didn't want to bother her with betaing this on top of hiraeth

**Author's Note:**

> thank you for reading!


End file.
